


Comics for Closure

by MoMoMomma



Series: Properties of Life [8]
Category: Far Cry 5
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Multi, Past Abuse, Polyamory, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:28:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25140115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoMoMomma/pseuds/MoMoMomma
Summary: This is either going to go very, very badly or Rook is going to be gifted with a teary smile and a huge hug. He’s hoping for the latter but to be honest...at the rate his day is going, the former is more likely.
Relationships: Male Deputy | Judge/Jacob Seed, Male Deputy | Judge/John Seed, Male Deputy | Judge/Joseph Seed
Series: Properties of Life [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1158557
Comments: 5
Kudos: 123





	Comics for Closure

**Author's Note:**

  * For [9shadowcat9](https://archiveofourown.org/users/9shadowcat9/gifts).



> Replacing painful memories with good ones is a coping mechanism I love so I hope this makes you all smile as much as it made me smile!

This is either going to go very, very badly or Rook is going to be gifted with a teary smile and a huge hug. He’s hoping for the latter but to be honest...at the rate his day is going, the former is more likely. 

It had all started when Rook had glanced up from his phone about a week ago, commenting idly that the local comic shop was going to be having a massive sale on all their “nostalgia” comics. Older ones, not worth much, but a few in the ad were ones he remembers reading perched on the end of King’s bed because he wasn’t allowed to take them out of his brother’s room. John had merely murmured a distracted “that’s nice, dear” while he was nose deep in some litigation paperwork but Jacob and Joseph…

Joseph had gone utterly still. Freezing in his seat and eyes going just a touch wide for a moment before he pointedly and purposefully buried his face in his Bible. 

Jacob had pulled Rook away after a bit, once he realized Rook had noticed and was still shooting Joseph concerned little looks, to explain. Apparently comics were a _thing_ for Joseph. Something he wanted as a child but that were never in a million years allowed by their asshole of a father. 

And the one time he’d dared to actually have one, the punishment had been so severe just talking about it made Rook so pissed he wound up taking Judge for a sprint so his anger didn’t sour the air of the house. 

All of which leads him to...here. And now. Staring up at the comic shop like something inside might jump out and berate him for being inconsiderate. 

At first, the idea had seemed so nice. Get Joseph the comics he missed out on as a kid. But the longer Rook thought about it--and brought the idea up to Nick and Kim who winced simultaneously even though he left out some of the harsher details--he’d started to re-consider. 

What if it brings up the trauma? What if it ends badly?

But...what if it doesn’t?

“Is there a problem, Deputy?”

Rook starts at the man peering out the door at him, shading his eyes against the sun and frowning like he expects Rook to read him his rights. 

“Uh. No. Not at all, I’m not on duty or anything.”

“I figured.” The man says slowly, sweeping his eyes up and down. “Since you’re not in uniform. But you’ve been standing out here for almost ten minutes and some of the employees are wondering if something is going on.”

Great. Now he thinks he’s an idiot and he _looks_ like one too.

“Sorry, was just--uh--contemplating what I wanted.”

“Right.” The man pushes the door open, drawing the word out and hooking a thumb over his shoulder. “If you come in, we can help you out? That way you don’t have to stand out here?”

Rook’s actually never been inside this particular comic shop before, but it looks and smells just like every other one. Ink on pages and the slight dust from not being able to clean as well as they should. It’s comforting, in a way, brings him back to trailing behind King with a pocketful of whatever he’d managed to save up that he was eager to spend. 

“Can I help you find something?”

The overly cheerful voice has Rook turning, noting absently the Omega smell in the air, before meeting the grinning face of a pixie with wild pink hair. She does a double-take upon seeing him, stepping back slightly as her scent noticeably reels itself back in.

“Deputy Wylde. I didn’t expect to see you here today. How are your mates?”

Rook peers at her for a long second before he realizes where he’s seen her before. She attends a lot of the sermons, though he doesn’t think she’s actually part of the church yet. Probably checking it out, like a lot of them do, before committing to anything. Still, she’s always cheerful and respectful when they’ve run across each other.

“Fine, they’re fine.” Rook hedges for a moment before he reaches back to scrub at his nape. “Actually...I’m in here for them. Well, for Joseph. I wanted to pick him up a couple of comics.”

“Oh.” Her eyes widen even further and her lips curve into a surprise moue. “I didn’t think the Father was the type to enjoy things like this.”

Rook knows what that means. A lot of people think Joseph is this calm and stoic person, more a figure than a living breathing being. It surprises a lot of people when they’re out and about and they see Joseph tucked under Rook’s arm or stealing bites of food off his plate at dinner. But she recovers quick enough and gestures to the wall of comics he’d been staring at anxiously before she’d popped up.

“What kinds does he like? Do you know?”

“Uh...Marvel, I think. He hasn’t had any in a while.” 

Rook thinks for a split second and then panic rears in his mind, blaring alarms so loud he’s surprised his ears aren’t ringing.

“Not Spiderman, though. None of that.”

She quirks one brow but nods, leading him down the wall a bit before gesturing to the colorful covers that all try to grab the attention at once.

“Everything here is on the nostalgia sale, so it’s all 50% off. Marvel is here and then you’ll find some on that table over there and scattered around.” She points to a white table where a few kids are already gathered around, before glancing at the door when the bell rings to allow a few more people in. 

“If you need anything else, my name’s Liza. Just hollar for me, okay?”

And then she’s gone, leaving Rook once more to face the darkness alone. He glares at the cover of one Avengers book, feeling a bit like the raging Hulk pictured there, before a teenager scoots behind him and breaks his concentration. 

He needs to get his shit and get out of here. This many people is making him nervous, every whispered conversation and glance is being twisted by his anxiety into condemnation. 

Rook winds up grabbing a handful for each individual Avenger, piling them into his arms and going to join the queue of people by the register who also appear to be trying to beat the rush as more customers file in. Liza is behind the counter when he gets up there, smiling at him as she flips through the ones he chose. 

“These are all pretty good. He’ll like them a lot, I think.”

“I really hope so.” Rook breathes, just a touch too earnestly if her confused grin is anything to go by. 

Ten dollars seems too cheap. Seems like far too low a price for something so precious. But Rook hands it over and stuffs a few bills into the tip jar for good measure before escaping with the plastic bag gripped in his hands. He sets them carefully on the passenger seat, drumming his hands nervously on the wheel before plucking his phone out of his pocket. 

“Rook?”

“Hey, darling.” Just hearing Joseph’s voice eases something in his chest, makes him lean back into his seat with a grin. “Where are you?”

“At the compound. I had a few things to prepare for this week’s Bible study groups. Is everything alright?”

“Of course, of course.” Rook sucks his teeth, measures the distance between here and Joseph. “Hey, is it alright if I come see you? Won’t interrupt anything, right?”

“You are always more than welcome to interrupt.” He can hear the curiosity in Joseph’s tone. “Though no, you wouldn’t be. Are you sure everything is fine?”

“Yeah, everything is good. I just have a present for you.”

“Rook,” Joseph’s voice is wry and he has to shift at the immediate reaction to the sound of it. “You know my feelings about that while we’re at the compound.”

Which basically amounts to “I’d rather we didn’t” and “only on special occasions.” 

He has to laugh, even though the thought is doing wonders for clearing the anxiety out of his brain. Hard to be nervous when Joseph’s thinking Rook’s phoning in a booty call in the middle of the day. 

“No, no, nothing like that. Though, if you wanted--”

“Ah, you can set those on my desk, thank you. No, no, not at all, just talking to my Alpha. Yes, I will.” 

Rook waits patiently as Joseph talks to someone on the other end, hearing the shift from fond teasing to polite professionalism. He pulls out of the parking lot carefully, dodging cars and people still making their way to the store, and out onto the main road before Joseph brings the phone back to his mouth.

“Apologies, my love. Benjamin says hello, by the way.”

“I’ll take that as a no for any special gifts I might wanna give you.”

Joseph’s laugh is warm and just a little filthy. 

“Not unless you have a strong desire to find out how you react when someone walks in on us.”

The growl that immediately builds in Rook’s throat, unconscious and guttural, has Joseph laughing once more, bright this time. 

“I thought as much. Unfortunately, I imagine people will be in and out all day as we’re still preparing for our camp next month.”

“That’s alright, you’ll come home eventually.”

“So I shall.” Joseph ends the sentence with a low whine, just enough to have Rook white knuckling the wheel and gritting his teeth. “Are you close?”

“You don’t know the half of it.” Rook growls, another soft laugh from Joseph making him grin without thinking. “Be there in about fifteen minutes, alright?”

“Of course. I’ll see you then. I love you.”

“Love you too, sweetheart.”

The conversation puts him in such a good mood, Rook nearly forgets the severity of the situation. Nearly forgets what’s at stake. Until he’s put the truck in park outside of Joseph’s office and reaches for his phone, tossed onto the bag once he’d finished the call. He stares for a long second, contemplating just giving them to Joseph at home, but decides if it goes bad, he doesn’t want those memories in their house.

Rook passes a few of the faithful as he makes his way towards Joseph’s room in the back, waving and muttering hello’s and trying to project an air of “please don’t talk to me right now.” It’ll be too easy to keep stopping if someone tries to chat, be too tempting to just give them the comics with the excuse of picking them up on a good sale.

“Rook.” Joseph rises the second he raps his knuckles on the door and pokes his head in, setting the papers down and rounding his desk. “Come in. How are you?”

“Better now that I’m here.”

The kiss is just a little too deep to be considered proper, but Rook kicks the door shut the second he clears it so he figures that’s alright. It leaves Joseph’s arms around his neck, weight sagged into his body, a small whine escaping his throat when Rook finally draws back. 

“Any particular occasion?”

“I can’t just miss my mate?”

“Lying is a sin.” Joseph reminds him lightly, stroking fingers over where his hairline ends. “Jacob is home today, I doubt he would have let you leave with such a weak excuse. And it’s unlikely that you’d miss me while he was there anyhow.”

“I always miss you.” Rook says honestly, earning himself a soft smile and a softer kiss.

“And I feel the same.”

Joseph moves to slide his hands down, probably around Rook’s waist, and frowns when he bumps Rook’s arm, jostling the bag with a loud crinkling noise.

“Rook?”

“I did say I had a gift.” Rook murmurs weakly, lifting the bag before shakily depositing it into Joseph’s hands.

Joseph frowns at him for a moment as he reaches in, before his face goes carefully blank upon pulling out the first comic. He’s so still, barely breathing, that Rook’s head goes full fire alarm once more. He shoves his scent out, nostrils flaring as he tries to catch Joseph’s in the air. His own scent is tinged with anxiety, burning in the nose, but Joseph’s is...blank.

“Look, if this was a mistake--I’ll just throw them away. You don’t have to take them and we never have to talk about this again.”

“You...bought these for me?” Joseph’s voice is small, heartbreakingly uneven, and his eyes glitter when he glances up at Rook.

“I...yeah. I thought you might--Jacob told me that--and I didn’t…” Rook scrubs his hands over his face in frustration. “I am so fucking sorry. I knew this was a bad idea. I’ll just take them and toss them or--or I can burn them if you want.”

“What are you talking about?” Joseph holds the comic close to his chest for a moment, before throwing his arms around Rook’s neck. 

The kiss is wet and tastes like salt, the tears that gathered in Joseph’s eyes streaking down his cheeks into it. But Joseph’s scent is happy, the special tinge to it that it only gets when he’s very pleased with something. 

Ecstatic, Rook thinks briefly, hazily, before Joseph draws back with such a wide grin he can’t think at all.

“Rook, these are...these are wonderful. Thank you so very much.”

“You haven’t even looked at them all.” Rook says with a wince, Joseph shaking his head and peering into the bag. 

“I hardly need to. It’s not the comics themselves, it’s the thought of it all. What you went through for me.”

“It wasn’t really a big deal…”

“Rook.” Joseph places the comics on a nearby chair and cups his face, drawing his attention to a focal point as easy as breathing. “You bought me something I had taken from me. And more than that, you gave me a greater gift than stories in ink. When I look at comics now, when I see children reading them or adults indulging...I won’t think of my father. Won’t think of the pain. I will remember my mate nervously presenting them to me like they were diamonds.”

“I wasn’t nervous.” Rook defends, but Joseph just kisses the lie right off his lips.

“Thank you. Truly. I...I love you.”

“I love you too.” 

They hold each other then, for a long moment. Joseph wrapped tight in Rook’s arms, right where he should be. The lean weight of him grounding in ways that Rook didn’t anticipate. It wipes away all the worries, all the concerns. 

“I’m so glad you like them, sweetheart.”

“I do. I...actually…” Joseph lifts Rook’s wrist, glances at his watch for a moment before flickering his eyes upwards, looking overtop his glasses. “Do you have any immediate plans? I was going to take my lunch shortly and I thought...perhaps…”

“Pizza and comics?” Rook suggests, pulling Joseph in for another kiss at the shy nod. “That sounds fucking amazing, not gonna lie. Can’t think of any better way to celebrate me not fucking up for once in my life.”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Joseph talks against his pulse, mouth buried against his throat. “I certainly can think of a few ways. But those are better held until we’re home.”

Well. Fuck.

“You’re the worst.”

“And you are the best.” Joseph pecks a kiss onto his lips, before stepping out of his hold to pull the remaining comics from the bag. “Order for us, will you? I want to choose which I’d like to read first.”

This could have ended disastrously. Could have been the worst possible decision. But everything turned out alright in the end. Rook can’t take any of the credit for that, lays it all on his mate’s ability to look on the bright side of life no matter what. 

Next time, he decides firmly, watching Joseph flick through the pages like a kid on Christmas, Joseph’s coming with him to the shop. He’ll buy him the whole damn inventory if he keeps on grinning like that.

Anything just to see his mate smile.


End file.
